Video 6:27
Mystery Dublin girl may be Australian citizen

A young woman found wandering the streets of Dublin in a distressed state last month is now believed to be an Australian citizen, as the mystery of this worrying case unfolds.

Transcript

LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: A young woman believed to be an Australian citizen is at the centre of a disturbing international mystery unfolding in Ireland.

The woman, thought to be around 20, was found a month ago wandering the streets of Dublin in a distressed state. She barely spoke at all, but after being taken in and cared for by authorities, she began drawing pictures that indicated she may have been the victim of a sex trafficking ring.

Interpol couldn't identify her, so the Irish police released a photograph and issued this appeal for help last night.

DAVID TAYLOR, GARDAI PRESS OFFICER: Do you recognise this girl? Did you have any interactions with her? Did you pass her in a distressed state in the city centre in and around 10th October, 2013?

LEIGH SALES: The blonde woman spoke little English and was first thought to be around 14 or 15. After several weeks of investigation and 115 lines of inquiry, the Gardai was no closer to identifying her.

TARA DUGGAN, DEPUTY EDITOR, NEWS TALK RADIO, DUBLIN (On ABC Radio, The World Today): She wasn't really communicating with authorities at all. As I say, she seemed in a rather distressed and disoriented state. Now, over the course of a number of days, she did begin communicating with authorities, but by drawing pictures. And these pictures presented rather disturbing images for Irish authorities. Without being too graphic about it, she was depicting images which showed her on a bed surrounded by a number of men and money exchanging hands. The feeling really was very genuine within the authorities amongst Gardai and the health professionals who've been caring for this girl that she was probably of Eastern European origin and was probably the victim of sex trafficking.

LEIGH SALES: Yesterday, the Gardai went public in its efforts to find out who she is.

DAVID TAYLOR: We're taking the step today, in accordance with the High Court judgment last Friday, to issue the photograph of this child in the hope that somebody out there who may have come across this child, know this child or has any knowledge of this child would make contact with us.

LEIGH SALES: After the appeal, somebody believed to be a relative of the woman contacted the police with fresh information. The Gardai is now confident they know the mystery woman's identity.

For the latest on the case, I'm joined now from London by ABC reporter Barbara Miller. So Barbara, what do we know about this woman's identity? What's happened since that appeal was made last night?

BARBARA MILLER, REPORTER: Well police had a huge response to that appeal. Many, many people calling in to that 24-hour hotline they set up. Now there are reports, as you alluded to there, that a family member or a family friend of this woman from Australia called in to say that they recognised her and identified her as such. Now, the Irish police must be fairly confident of that identification. They say they are no longer looking for assistance from the public. They are liaising closely with the Australian police and they're following a very definite line of inquiry. Some reports identify this woman as named as Samantha. She is a young woman rather than a teenage girl. It was initially thought she was 14 or 15 years old. She was speaking very little English, so it wasn't assumed that English was her first language. And there have been some reports that she is from Queensland and that she may have come into contact with authorities there before. Neither the Irish nor the Australian police are confirming any of those details at present.

LEIGH SALES: So, what level of Australian authorities are now involved?

BARBARA MILLER: We know that the AFP is involved. They are liaising closely with the Irish authorities. We understand that some state authority is also involved. Again, neither the Irish police when I called them just a short time ago nor the Australians will say which state police force may be involved. That may be something which comes out later today your time or tomorrow. The Irish say that they are going to get an update from their investigating team some time today London - or Dublin time and may give out more details on this case. But they're no longer looking for any lines of inquiry and say that this line to Australia is very, very definite.

LEIGH SALES: We heard the reporter in the package before talk about speculation that this young woman may have been a victim of a sex trafficking ring. Is there anything more you can tell us about that?

BARBARA MILLER: It looks like that line of inquiry may be weakening. That, as the reporter laid out, was due to some drawings she had made. Police in this month that they've been trying to establish who they are got her to make some sketches. They were understood to be graphic sketches and the assumption was made that perhaps she might've been the victim of trafficking. I think the fact that police say they are no longer looking for assistance from the public, the fact that they are so definite about this Australia link and that they seem almost to be wrapping up the case to some extent in Ireland would suggest - and some of the Irish media is indeed also suggesting that the police no longer believe that that's a viable line of inquiry.

LEIGH SALES: A month seems to be quite a long time to hold somebody without being able to identify them. What inquiries have the Irish police made over that time?

BARBARA MILLER: Well the Irish police went to great lengths when they put out the appeal for information about this young woman yesterday to say that they had gone to great lengths to try to identify her. They've been trawling airports, ports, they've gone to bed and breakfasts, guesthouses, they've contacted dentists. She's understood to wear a brace and they trawled dentist record throughout the country to see if someone there might be able to identify her. They involved Interpol, they involved Missing Persons Bureau. 2,000 man hours were taken up with this case and 115 lines of inquiry. Now in the course of that month, the names of 15 people were supplied to police. They investigated all of those and came to a dead end and they actually went to the High Court to get permission to go public with this appeal and release this photo, which has resulted, it seems, in the very speedy resolution of this disturbing case.

LEIGH SALES: Barbara Miller in London, we'll be interested to see what happens over the next 24 hours or so. Thank you very much.